How Heather Bennett ‘20SCE Is Achieving Professional and Personal Success Through Service to Others

Posted on June 24, 2020

Achieving greater professional success is of course a major reason for going back to school – but it’s not the only one. Personal fulfillment is also key to a successful career and satisfying life. Heather Bennett ‘20SCE has found fulfillment in serving others, both in her job as a Human Resources professional at Providence College and as a student in the college’s School of Continuing Education (SCE). And that experience, she says, has helped to drive her growth as both a professional and a person.

Bennett first graduated from SCE in 2012 with an associate’s degree in Administrative Management, becoming the first in her family to earn a college degree. When she decided she wanted to pursue her bachelor’s degree, she chose the Liberal Studies program because it provided the most flexibility to study a wide range of topics while also continuing to build her business skills.

She completed her bachelor’s degree this May, and was an SCE graduate once more. She also received this year’s SCE Service Award for her contributions to the SCE community as well as the greater community. Bennett says her love of helping others is what fuels her career.

“I work in Human Resources because I like to help people, and my experience at PC as both an employee and a student has really strengthened that feeling,” Bennett says. “I’ve been working in the HR department at PC for over 11 years, and between working and going to school here, I’ve changed so much for the better.”

Bennett says that each semester she spent pursuing her bachelor’s degree at SCE provided her with more connections in the community, through the coursework and through student social groups.

“I do a lot of event planning in my job, so I joined the SCE Student and Alumni Group to help with student programs and volunteer opportunities,” she says. “Last year we volunteered to help create raised garden beds for St. Pius School across the street from campus. It was really fun. During the next summer I took walks at lunch and was able to see the gardens actually being utilized and the kids getting the experience of tending the growing vegetables, and that made me just think wow, look what just a few hours can do.”

Bennett became involved in her community outside of PC as well, volunteering with Pawswatch Cat Rescue in Newport, RI. She helps to trap feral cats to get them neutered or spayed and, if possible, socialized so that they can be adopted into a loving home.

Bennett says that all of her experiences helping others – whether through her professional career, her involvement with the SCE Student and Alumni Group, or her volunteer work in the community – have only helped to fuel her own success and personal happiness. And, she says, her studies in the Liberal Studies degree program was the perfect complement to that.

“Business classes have always come fairly easily to me, so I wanted to challenge myself a little more. The Liberal Studies program allowed me to explore more things that I would not have been able to otherwise. It was kind of scary at first, but it really widened my perspective,” Bennett says.

“I began to really reflect and evolve. When I’m thinking about things, I approach them differently now. I look at issues not just from a business perspective but also from a human one. It’s changed some of my world views as well as the way I do my job. I feel like I understand the human perspective more now, and it’s made me want to be even more involved.”

“May, 2020 may have been the official completion of my BA in Liberal Studies, but the learning will continue. I never expected my liberal arts education to transform me in this way and I am so grateful that I chose to blaze my own trail. I have no plans to stop any time soon.”